MadCatz F.P.S Pro Xbox 360 Controller Review

MadCatz are known for creating high quality gaming equipment for casual and professional gamers on all gaming platforms. Today we are reviewing the F.P.S Pro Xbox 360 Controller from MadCatz, the products itself looks like a complete war machine, it has your standard xbox controller layout just with a few more tweaks.

The packaging had that modern look to it, the box was surprisingly small but it compacted everything inside nice and snug not wasting any space. It has a flap on the front of the box to show buyers what they are actually purchasing.

The A,B,X and Y buttons have a different sharper design which makes it easier to press, it has two immersive backlit analog sticks that you can customise into three different colours which you can change individually. On the sides of the controller it has ergonomic non-slip grips and on the back it has two XL ‘Combat Buttons’ for on the fly custom remapping.

When i first placed the controller in my hand it had this more ‘chunky’ feeling to it than the normal xbox controllers, the analog sticks was more ‘in your face’ and everything seemed to sit higher out of the controller for more of a intense look to it. The grips felt good in the hand and the analog sticks was very sensitive.

I plugged it into my Xbox and all of a sudden these super backlit analog sticks light up and i just thought ‘that is awesome’ it gives it more of that ‘Pro’ look to it, i was surprised at how bright the lights were as its very visible even in the day but even better when playing in the dark.

The right and left triggers felt good they have this bouncy feel to them which i felt was better for performance, the bumpers on the other hand are very clicky and may get annoying to some, but they have this ‘quick-fire’ system which improves speed when pressed. It also has a 10ft (3m) cable.

The main reasons people will purchase this controller is the backlit analog sticks and the XL Combat Buttons on the back of the controller which you can customise. These came in very handy, i use one for reload and one for switching my weapons, i was going to switch one to knife attack but my instincts have been trained to press B every time i crap my pants when someone is in my face.

You can switch each button to three different buttons, the left button can be changed to A, B or LSB (left shoulder bumper) and the right can be changed to X,Y or RSB. Personally the buttons are to high up the back of the controller and i really have to strain my fingers when attempting to press the buttons, if they were lowered by a few millimetres they would be perfectly placed for my hands, but i have big chunky hands so for people with smaller hands it may be in the correct position for you. The buttons are very sensitive which sometimes you will switch weapons without even knowing what you pressed, this can happen when entering a fight and accidentally pulling out your RPG.

The build of this controller is very bulky and personally i like it, my fingers can rest comfortably and i can have lighting reactions with the combat buttons. I have a problem with the D-Pad; for some reason it feels and looks out of place with the whole controller as its not really changed its just made a little bit bigger, and many times i have problems where i think i’ve pressed it but the d-pad is so light that you need to give it a good smack for the controller to notice you have pressed it.

Overall a really good product from MadCatz, you have a major advantage over your enemies, its a strong build, very spacious but if only the combat buttons was a little bit lower this would be fantastic, and to round it off, maybe wireless in the future for true freedom.